10 killed entering Indian-held Kashmir

The Indian army killed 10 suspected Islamist militants today after they crossed into Indian-controlled Kashmir from Pakistani territory, Indian police said.

Indian soldiers killed eight intruders in Nanjot sector, along the line of control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, a police spokesman said.

Two more suspected insurgents were killed in a gunbattle with the army in the Tangdhar sector, nearly 110km (70 miles) north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-held Kashmir.

Elsewhere in the disputed Himalayan region, at least two suspected Islamist militants and a police officer were killed in a clash triggered by a midnight attack on a jail, police said.

At least two police officers were wounded in an exchange of gunfire that was followed by security forces combing the forested area around the jail in Hiranagar, a town 70km (45 miles) south of Jammu, Indian-controlled Kashmir's winter capital, a police officer said.

It was not immediately clear how many gunmen were involved in the attack on the jail, which has Islamist militants among its inmates. No prisoners escaped during the fighting.

The assault came two days after suspected guerrillas had targeted a bus in the town with automatic weapons and hand grenades and killed at least four people during the third phase of state elections.

Also today, a bomb exploded under a bus hired by paramilitary soldiers, wounding five police officers and one civilian. Police blamed insurgents for the attack.

The blast occurred while the paramilitary central reserve police force officers were loading their baggage into the bus in Zainpora, a village in Pulwama district, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, police said.

Separatist militants have vowed to disrupt the state elections, which they say are rigged to favor the governing pro-Indian party, the National Conference. The last round of voting is next Tuesday. Final results are expected to arrive by October 12.

Islamist militants have waged a 12-year insurgency seeking Indian-controlled Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan. At least 60,000 people have been killed in the separatist movement, and thousands are still missing.

More than 100 political activists and candidates have been killed in election-related violence since the polls were announced in August.

India accuses the Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, of reneging on his promise to stop cross-border movement of Islamist militants. Islamabad insists it has done everything it can to curb the incursions, but says that it cannot control the separatist movement in Indian-controlled Kashmir.